Vending machine



July 14, 1931. A. A. KNEE VENDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 July 14, 1931. A. A. KNEE VENDING MACHINE 28, 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept.

Jul y 14, 1931.

A. A. KNEE VENDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Ill lllalll'lulllulillll I'll lllllllllllllll July 14, 1931. A. A. KNEE 1,813,934

VENDING MACHINE Fil'ed Sept. 28, 8 S-Sheets-Shee t 4 Filed Sept. 28, 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 July 14, 1931. A. A; KNEE VENDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 28, 1928 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented July 14, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE j ING mm onenessran NORTH sanctum winning ia oninn 7 Application filed September 28, 132 8. Serial No. 309,103.

-- My invention relates to a machinefor vending articles which are bound together in ribbon; form and provides means "for insuring the vending of only one article at a time without injury to the same, together with means for storing a great quantity ofthe ar ticles to be sold, and with additional spaces for the display of the articles which are dispensedby the machine.

v An object of my invention is to provide a machine for vending peanutsand comprises means for dispensing bags of peanuts, said peanuts having been secured together in ribbonform, said means comprising mechanism lmfor feeding the ribbon of bags of peanuts to a dispensing apparatus, said dispensing apparatus being adapted to cut ofi one bag and die liver-the same without interfering w th the other bags except to advance the same for sale, together with means for holding the ribbon while a bag is being severed therefrom and means for closing the machine after each sale so as to seal the same against the outer atmosphere, thus insuring a fresh stock of peanuts in the container atall times.

I am aware that-heretofore peanuts have been sold in bulk form from vending machines, and that machines have been devised for delivering separate bags filled with bulk edibles, but in these structures there is no provision for preventing the outer atniosphere from entering the machine and affecting the flavor of the peanuts and thus rendering these machines useless for thereason that fresh nuts could not be obtained from'the machine unless the same" had been recently filled.

Another object of my invention is to provide a machine for vending bags of'bulk edibles and other articles, which has a base in which the vending mechanism is housed, and which has a transparent top resting on the base, with means associated with the base and projecting'in the top for displaying in still position the articles of the type sold, and in addition thereto, the ribbon of articles whichis passed thru the vending machine will pass up the back end of the vending machine,

then across the top of the machine and then down in front and into the vending mechanism so that the moving articlesvvill be displayed onthe top and ends and similar still articles will be displayed on the side portions, so that the entire transparent top will present specimens of the articles sold by the vending machine, which will present a neat appearance and serve as an advertising medi? um of the goods sold.

Some of the objects of my invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the tion with the accompanying drawing's,' in p I c Figure 1 is a front elevation of my machine withthe front portion of the glass cover cut-away; Figure 2 is a side-elevation of my machine, I

description proceeds when taken n co-nneclooking fi'QmYfhe. g t in'Fi'g'ure 1, with a section of the glass cover brokenaway, and other portions "cut' away for sake of clearness; v

Figure 3 is a top plan view of my machine, with a'portion of the glass cover cutaway; "Figure 4 is a top plan View of the dispensing mechanism, ii

Figure 5 is-aside elevation of the dispensing mechanism looking from th e left ha nd side of Figured; Y i FigureG is a side elevation of the dispensing mechanism looking from the righthand side of Figure l;

Figure? is-a bottom'plan view of the dispensingmechanism showinga portion of the,

delivery portion cut away;

"Figure 8 is. a view similar to Figure 5, showing-the dispensing mechanism in normal position and with the end disk and spokes omitted;

Figure 9 is a front elevation of thelefthand end of the dispensing mechanism, show- "ing the rim and cas ng out along the line 99 in Figure 8;

Figure 10 is a righthand side elevation of the dispensing mechanism with thefend disk and spokes shown in Figure (i omitted;

Figure 11 is a front elevation or the right hand end of the dispensing mechanism'and' bears the samerelation to *Figure 1 0 -,Figure 9 bears to Figure 8 I F1gure'12 is a cross-sectional View of the dispensing mechanism taken along the line 1212 in Figure 4;

Figure 13 illustrates the form of the ribbon of bags adapted for use in my machine;

Figure 14 is a view similar to Figure 8, but showing the parts in raised position just before a bag is severed from the ribbon of bags;

Figure 15 is a view similar to Figure and showing the other end of the dispensing mechanism in the same position as shown in Figure 14.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the base of my machine, which has the parallel upstanding side portions 11 and 12, and the parallel upstanding end portions. 13 and 14, said side and end portions having the continuous outturned flange 15 along their upper edge. The curved housing 16 is disposed in the front portion of the machine and projects rearwardly and downwardly and rests on the base 10, and this housing has the vertically disposed side portions 17 and 18 which rest on a portion of the vending mechanism to be later described so as to shut off the said vending mechanism from the rest of the interior of the machine. There are two longitudinally disposed vertical partitions 19 and 20 which have their forward ends supported by the cover 16 and the remainder of their lower edges rest on the base 10. Secured to the outer sides of these partition members are the corrugated members 21 and 22 which have the vertically disposed pocket members 23 therein in which the bags of peanuts or other articles 24 are supported. On the outer edge of the members 17 and 18 are the shelf members which are adapted to support'the bags 24. Also secured to the partition members 19 and 20 are the shelves 25 and 26 on which the bags of articles of the type sold by the machine are adapted to be supported for display purposes, said bags being designated by the numeral 27, and at the front and rear ends of the members 21 and 22 the bags 28 are adapted to be positioned vertically, and at the rear ends the bags 29 are likewise positioned, so that when the moving ribbon is mounted in the machine the entire outer up per surface will display the articles to be sold, and in addition, below the shelves 25 and 26 the bags 30 are placed on each side of the machine to complete the display effect,

' said bags being supported by the shelves 31,

one of which is shown in Figure 1, the one on the other side being hidden.

Secured to the outer edges of the housing for the vending mechanism, which are inclicated by the reference characters 17 and 18, are the vertically disposed strips 32 and 33, and pivotally mounted on the outer surface of these vertically disposed strips are the arms 34, which have secured in their free ends the cross-wire members 35, and the springs 36 are secured to the strips 32 and 33 and hold these cross-wires in resilient position against the ribbon of bags passing downward to the vending mechanism, which will be later described. Pins 37 limit the backward movement of the springs 36.

Secured to the front end portion 13 are the vertically disposed members 38, 39 and 40, which have their upper portions secured to the cross-bar 41 which has its ends bent backwardly and secured to the inside surfaces of the vertical partitions 19 and 20. This latter arrangement prevents the ribbon of bags from pressing against the glass cover, to be later described.

Mounted in the partitions 19 and 20 are the rods 42 and 43 on which the reel members 44 and 45 are loosely mounted. These reel members have the pockets 46 therein in which a bag in the ribbon of bags is adapted to fit as. the same is passed over the reels on its travel to the vending mechanism.

. Secured between the partition members 19 and 2-0 and being parallel with the base portion 10, but being disposed in the upper portion of the machine at a point above the rods 42 and 43 and being in alinement with the bottom of the highest pockets on the reels 44 and 45, is the sheet member 47 which is adapted to support the ribbon of bags between the two reels.

All of the space below the reels down to the base and to the rear of the Vending mechanism' housing 16 is adapted to be filled with a. continuous ribbon of bags of material adapted to be passed thru the vending machine. This ribbon is denoted by the numeral 48 and the individual bags are designated by the numeral 49. This ribbon is folded on itself back and forth until the said compartment is filled and then it is brought over the rear of the reel 44, as is shown in Figure 2,'and then along the top surface of the member 47, then over the reel 45, with the individual bags fitting in the pockets 46, and then the ribbon is passed down in front of the cross-wires 35 and to the rear of the vertical strips 38 and into the vending mechanism to be later described.

l/Vhen the machine is thus assembled and filled, the glass cover 50 is placed over the whole device and it rests on the top of the members 11, 12, 13 and 14, and the lower edge of the glass cover 50 has the outturned flanges 51 thereon which rest against the flanges 15 on the sidewall members 11 to 14,'and the strip 52, which is U-shaped in cross-section and hinged at the corners of the cover, indicated by 53, 54, 55 and 56 in Figure 3, is passed around the machine and locked in position as shown at 57, said locking means comprising the slot 58 in which the rib 59 fits with the bolt 60 passing therethru and the padlock 61 secured in the lower end'thereof.

It is thus seen that the moving ribbon of bags 49, the stationary bags '24,.27 28 and 30 will cause the entire transparent "portion of the machine to present the. appearance of being packed'full of the bags to be sold, while only the moving bags 49 willabe sold, the

other'bags being for displaypurposes only.

I- desire it to be understood that when one ribbon of bags is exhausted that another ribbon of any desired'length can be secured to the first ribbon and so on successively,

each time the machine is refilled.

I will now describe my vending mechanism which comprises the curved portion 62 which projects backwardly and upwardly into the base portion and has the flat top portion, indicated at '63, and secured to each side of this portion 62 are the vertically disposed portions 64 and 65, which have secured on the top front edge thereof the cover 66 and secured integral with the curved portion of the upper edges of the members 64 and is the circular portion 67, which has integral therewith at each end thereof the extensions which form the rings 69 and 70,

said rings having the spokes 71 and 7 2 with the round bearing portion 73 in the center thereof, and in these bearing portions the rod 75 is adapted to be mounted, which has the handle 76 thereon and on this rod is mounted .the tubular member 77 on which a reel member 78 is adapted to rotate. This reel member 78 is similar to the reel members 44 and 45 previously described, and has thesame number of pockets 79 therein in which the bags of articles adapted to be vended are adapted to fit as they pass through the Vendingmachine. This reel member comprises the tubular member 80 which is mounted on the tubular member 77 and. has thespoked members 81, 82, 83 and 84 mounted thereon with the ends of the spokes 81 and 82 being joined by members 85 and the ends of the spokes 88 and 84 are joined by the members 86, thus forming the pockets 79 therebetween.

Secured to the tubular member 80 and in tegral therewith, as well as the spoke members, are the disk members 87 and 88, the disk member 88 being a plane disk member, while the disk member 87 has the circular laterally projecting portion 90 thereon which has five slots 91, 92, 93, 94 and 95 therein, the purpose of which will be later described. The

mechanism just described is mounted on and;

will beilater described. This knife member 97 travelsin close proximity to the circular portion 67 and on cnesidethereofhas the knife edge 99 and on the other side thereof has the dulled portion 100, which is adapted to pass up underneath the ribbon ofmerchandise on its backward travel without injuring said merchandise. Thesemcmbers 96 and 98 project rearwardly in the form of the extensions 101 and .102 and have secured to the lower edge thereof the closure member 103, which has the rubber or felt gasket 104 thereon which is adapted to fit against the upper edge 63 of the delivery chute. The member 96 has the eccentrically mounted cam 105 thereon, the purpose of which i willbe later described, but this cam islintegral with the member 96 The member 98 v is'circular and has the two arc-shaped cavities 106 and 106 therein, and has pivotly mounted on its inner surface the bent lever 107 which lever ispivotly mounted as at 1081and has the projection 109 thereon and I has the lateral projecting member 110 thereon and at the end thereof has thelateral projection 111,.the projection 110 projecting out into and traveling in the slot'106, while the projection 111 projects out into and travels in theslot 106: This lever 107 is'mounted in thesame plane as the projecting r1m-90 on the member87. Secured to the projection 111.is the double acting tension spring 112, p which is secured at its other end to the pin 113 inthe member 69. The member 69 has the inturned arc portion 113, which is indicated in Figures F aud 10, against the outer edge of which the projection 110 is adapted to slide in one direction of travel.

l Secured on the outer surface of the curved portion 67 and in close proximity to the ring portion 69 is the leaf spring 114 which has secured thereto the dog 115 which projects inward through the hole in the portion 67 so as to press against the outer edge ofv the circular portion 90 and whose end is adapted to fit intothe slots 91 to 95 in said circular portion. The outer surfaceof the member 98 has secured thereon the eccentric cam 105a, which is 'similar to the cam 105 on the member 96, and on. these eccentric cams I mount means for holding the ribbon of 7 bags in position while a bag is beingcut therefrom 1 for delivery by the vending machine.

On the member 98 and surrounding the cam 105a is the member 115 which projects outwardly and at the outer end thereof has theblade 116 mounted thereon, which blade is shown in raised position in Figures 14 and 15, but which is shown in closed position in Figures 8 and 10. This blade extends across 1 the device and has its other end connected to the member 117 which is similar to the member 115, and which member is. mounted on the eccentric cam 105 and a-pin118is secured in the'member 117 around'which issecured the spring 119, which is wrapped around the bearing center and has its other end secured toa pin 120 mounted in the spoke 71. The purpose of this spring is to return the blade 116 and associated parts quickly to lowered posit-ion. The member 117 has the slot 121 therein and above this slot a pin 122 pierces said member and acts as a pivotal point for the dog 123, which has an inturned projection 12 1 working in said slot and when the blade is in lowered position the projection 124 is adapted to fit into the notch 125 in the member 96 and lock the blade 116 and members 117 and 115 and associated parts to the members 96 and 98, but on the inner surface of the ring there is a sloping cam 127 against which the end of the dog is adapted to slide on the upward travel of the closure mechanism and the blade mechanism, the purpose of said cam being to dislodge the projection 124 from the notch 125 and the spring 119 will cause the blade and associated parts to fall quickly under the tension of said spring and to occupy a position as shown in Figures 8 and 10, said blade fitting on the inside of the delivery portion and fitting over the edge of the arc portion 67, which will catch the ribbon of bags at a point approximately midway between the bags bet-ween the said blade and the are portion 67 and hold the same while the knife 99 moves upward tosever the end bag from the ribbon on the inner surface of the arc portion 67. In the lowermost portion of the blade 116 and associated parts, the upper end of the dog 123 will be held behind the cam 130 and as the closure mechanism is lowered, after the end bag has been severed, the eccentric cams 105 and 105a will cause the blade to be lifted up slightly and then pulled backward out of the path of travel of the inner edge of the closure member 103 which is due to the fact that the pins 120 and 120-a in the members 70 and 69 respectively will prevent further downward travel of the members 117 and 115 and will cause them to be raised upwardly slightly and then pulled backwardly to cause the blade 116 to move inwardly out of the path of the inner edge of the closure member. The projections 101 and 102 have mounted therein the rod 131 which has secured thereon the fingers 132, 133 and 1341, which fingers fit between and at the ends of the spoke members 81 to 8 1, and on the left hand end ,of the vending mechanism, as seen by an observer standing in front ofthe machine, and which is best illustrated in Figure 1 1, there is fixedly secured theL-shaped lever 133 whose portion 13d normally lies fiush against the outer surface of the ring member 70, as shown in Figure .5. When the closure device is in lowered position and when the lever 76 is operated to cut off and deliver a bag, and the closure 103 is raised,

the lever 133 will strike the elongated cam 135 on the ring member 70 and this will cause the members 132, 133 and 134i to move backwa-rdly between the reel members into an adjacent pocket and push the end bag of merchandise backwardly so that it will fall down into the upper end of the delivery chute ready for the blade 116 to impinge itself thereon and hold the same for the upper advancement of the knife 99.-

Secured to this rod 131 is the coiled spring 137 which projects forwardly and rests on the upper inner edge of the closure member 103 to prevent rotation of the spring, the purpose of the spring being to return the pusher members 132, 133 and 13 1 back to normal position, as shown in Figure 41, they being in the position in Figure 15 and being in their natural position in Figures 5 and 6 as well as in Figure 4:. i a

The purpose of the cam 130 is to hold the blade to keep the same from being raised and to cause the members 115 and 117 to travel along thetop edgeof pins 120 and 120-a, which will cause the blade to be drawn inwardly toward the center of the reel and in this way the dog 123 will be released from engagement with the cam 130.

The rod is of reduced size along the portion which is within the tubular member 77, but is enlarged after leaving this tubular portion and the cam 105a has a squared opening therein in which a squared portion of the rod 75 fits, which causes the closure mechanism to move at all times with the rod 75 and the lever7 6 and a coiled spring 139 is secured to the rod at one end thereof by means of the cuff 140, and the other end of the said coiled spring is secured to the spokes 72 in any suitable manner so as to cause builtup energy in.

the spring, while the closure mechanism is being raised to cause the rod and closure mechanism to be returned to normal position.

The ring 69 has the projection 1 11 thereon against which the member 102 is adapted to move to limit the upward swing of the closure mechanism, and which also limits the path of travel of the vending mechanism.

Standing in front of Figure 1 and observing Figures 10 and 15 we will note that when the lever is in normal position and the closure mechanism and vending mechanism is in normal position, that a forward pull on the lever will cause the reel to be advanced forwardly or in a counter-clockwise direction in Figures 10 and 15, it would be noted that the projection 109 is fitting in the slot 93, which prevents the dog 115 from entering such slot and thus the closure mechanism and the reel mechanism are locked together, due to the fact that the bent lever 107 is mounted on the closure mechanism and the slot 93 is a part of the disk at the right hand end of the reel looking from the front, and this will cause the closure mechanism and the reel mechanism to travel names:

together, and di'gre'ssin-g for a momentlto-the otherfe'n'd of the mehanism the projection 124 wil1 be seatedin the slot 125- dueto the -inwar' :l -pull {0f the spring 142, which is A secured at oneendto the pi-n- 143 onthe m em- *berll'f anId-"lias its other end secured in the do 123,:as at 1144, and' the bla de' mechanism +wi balm beloeked to'tiieclosrrre mechanism so "that all I three mech anis-ms will be raised at the same time and the projection 110 will 7 travl on 'ijhe outer" surfs (if the "are member 1 13, and-this aromomber'being Stationary, the projection 110 willtravel "forwardly and p do wnwardly until it passes the'lowerend-ot 1 the arc meniber 113 at which 1 time the parts will "occupy apositi'on approximately "as 1 shown in Figures Mend 15,01 n littlehigher -.=pogition as'thesefigures are-'shown-justas the v lilease takes place; and 1' list before the upper end'of-travel'of the said mechanism, the-cam I33will"en gage the project-ion l see Figure '14) arid t he push members 132 to-134 Will be' pushed outwardly to the "position shown in h Figure 15 to cause the end bag of'peanu'tsmo zsfallover to'the dotted-linedposition shown in F'gigure l 15 "and 'a slightly further upward travel will cause-the deg '123 to engage the -ioax'n' '127 and releasethe projection "124* from the neteh 125 -(see Fi-gure 14) and-thexblade so 11% arfd associ ated partswil'l be released from thefithermechanismand'willfall tothe posi- 1 tionshown 3 in Figure {10 and the upper end of the 123 will catch. behin'd the cam "130 afnii tl'i'e blade l ltiwill be held ina rigid posifirtimand? thenwhen' the mechanism is moved upward slightly "further the projection 110' the path of the ribbon-l ef bags and sever the v in last bag on tli'e' ribbon fromthe ribbon while it isystiI-L h'eld by the "blade 116, and then-the lever '76 will be released and the spring 39 will cause the said lever 7 6 andthe closure mechanism to return to normal position, as shown in Figures 8 and 10, and while this lowering operation is proceeding the plate 116 will be raised upwardly and pulled inwardly by the combined actions of the pins 120 and 120a and the eccentric cams 105 and 105a as previously described. 7

It is thus seen that I have provided a vend ing machine capable of vending a ribbon of merchandise, having means for feeding said ribbon of merchandise through the machine and delivering one article at a time to a given point aminae: the ame-1e wliilethe-end ar v ticle' is severed-ffrom theTibbomftQgtherWith means which will aiitomatically close Band hermetically seal th me-1&9 "o fFthe container from the outer atmosphere,as the onlyair'can reach the container "will be through the deliveryportion145 the front portion "13 of the m'acliine." i

'Inthe a wirigs mi s eafi'c een "I h'ave set forth a preferred embodiment of myinventionyandalthotiglispecific terms-are'employed, they arefused -in'a generic and de scriptive sense only,*an d* not for purposes of set"forthin'the-eappendedclaims:

s 2'1, 1: r M 7 1. In 1a*vendinglmachinefa frameworha ii-imitation, the scope-of the 'inveritionbi'ng 'i-ng obj ects," a glassicover for theframework land being adapted-to rest on the base por- "base portion, longitudinallykand vertically disposed partitions on the fra'me'work, means ontheexterior of the said-p artit ioris fo'rhol d tion,'*ineans in-the top ofthe frameworkfor supportinga plurality of joined objects and allowin'g the same tobehdvangd with respect to theiramework,*vending'mechanism mounted'finithr forw'ard end of the base pgntion to ivhich said joined objects are adapted j to be led, -"sai'd vending, mechanism comprising "means "for advancing the "joined objects thru' thevsaidmechanism an-d for' separatingone of the joined objects zitatirfrefrom the others and delivering ithfe {same to the exte'rior of r i *the *machine. p p a '7 {2. vending machlne, abase P01131011, a vending mechanism mounted in? the .b'asefpor- 'tion, "said vending "mechanism comprising a "delivery-portion 'communi-catingwith' the ex temperate} base portion, a reel mounted -above the-deliveryportion, fa closure for the upper end ofthe-delivery' portion,means for opening-the closure and 'advancin'g'the reel as a unit, and means .ifor causin'g'fthe'closureto "of'the-ijeel; A I n a ven'dingmac ine, a rod having a 1 lever "thereon; areel mounted on therod, and

" beingadapted toa'dvan'ce a ribbon of articles thru the vendingimechanism,. a delivery por 'tion,"a closure for-the deliveryiportion mounted on the said rod, means 'ifor locking thereel andthe'olosure together for'mov'eme'nt in one 'direc'tion;means' for terminating this'conne'c- "tionwhile the-said partsfar'e advancing toii "atveiiding machine, "means "for; j ad- -*retrac;e'"its path without -chan sjging theposition a n I i,

*vanc-iiig airibbon of,ispacied 'articles thru a vending mechanismsaid'vending mechanism ,'wmpr s gfa dfl ng a op ra ng ev of pockets therein and being mounted on the tube, a'delivery portion, aclosure for the up- 7 per end of the'delivery portion, said closure nieans being mounted on the tube, a blade member having its supports mounted on the outer sides of the closure means, means for locking the closure means, the reel and the blade together for unitary movement, and

means for releasing the said object from each other 1n sequence. 7 a v. v I 5. Inavendmg machine adaptedv to vend bags of bulk, edibles, said bags being secured to. a continuous strip of flexible material, a

framework ha-ving means therein for storing and feeding a; ribbon of bags to the vending mechanlsm, said vendmg mechan sm comprising a reel member forzadvancing the ribbon ofibags thru the machine, a delivery portion thru which the bags are vended, a closure for the delivery portion, aknife cooperating 'with the closure, said means being adapted .to cooperate to advance the rlbbon of bags thru the vending" mechanism, to open and close the-closure, to sever one bag atatime from the ribbon, andto hold the said bag 7 while it is being severed'from the ribbon.

v 6.-In "a vending-machine, a dispensing DIGCIIHIHSIH, comprismg a transversely d1sposed rod, a rotatable tube mounted on'the rod, alever secured to the rod, a reel having c a plurality of pockets therein and being se-,

cured to a second tube which is rotatably mounted on the first tube,-a delivery spout,

.onedirection, and means for releasing the .closure mechanism from the reel to allow it to continue its rotation and .to retrace its path without moving the reel. 7 4, Y

7. In afvending machine, a framework, a plurality of reels mounted in vertically dis: posed spaced partitions, said partitions c forming a storage compartment for articles to be vended by the machine, means-for leading and-propelling a. continuousstrip over the reels, said strip being adapted to support'a plurality ofspaced articles tobe. sold by the machine, ,a 'vending mechanism mounted in the framework,a delivery portion leading from the vending mechanism to the exterior of themachine, andmeans for normally closing the delivery portion,

and means for opening the delivery portion for delivery of anvarticlefrom the vending machine. i Z Y 8. Ina vending.inachine-adaptedto ven d articles secured in spaced relation to each tio-ns in the said rim, closure operating mem-.

cured on theends of the reel, a circular rim member integral withthe outer portion of one of the disks, a plurality of cutaway porbers mounted on the rod and adapted to ro-' tate'therewith, a delivery spout positioned beneath and rearwardly of the reel, a closure member mounted on the ends of the closure operating members, a knife mounted on the I other end of the closure'operating members, means for holdingan article While the same is being severed by said knife, a spring pressed dog mounted on one of the closure operating members and being adapted to fit into one of the cutaway portions, a second spring pressed dog mounted on the delivery spout portion and being adapted to also fit into one of the-cutaway portions,'means for selectively causing one of the-dogs to fit in oneof said slots to lock the reel and closure together for unitary movement, and to re lease the said reel and closure member from each other. c v r y 9. In a vending machine, a vendingmecl1--- anism comprising a reel member, a closure operating member, a blademember, a delivery spout adapted to benormally closed by the closure operating member,- means for locking the reel'member,--the closure operating member and the blade member together for unitary "movement in one direction, and means for releasing the blade member, then releasing the closure member from the'reel member and means for returning the clo-;.,100 sure member to normal POSltlOIL I 10. In a vendingmachine, means for dispensing articles from a plurality of articles secured to each other in spaced relation,'said means comprising a reel for passing the ar- ,i05 ticles thru the machine, a knife'for severing one article at atime from the other articles, a delivery spout thru which the severed article is adapted to fall, closure means-for normally closing the delivery spout, and 110 means for opening the delivery spout, then advancing anarticle thereabove, then holding thearticleswhile' the article is severed ,from the others, then severing'the article,

then closing the delivery spout. 11

In testimony whereof- Iaffi'x my'signature.

AARON A, KNEE.

othertoa strip of-fiexib le material,- com prising a reel rotatably secured ona transyersely disposed rod, a plurality ofpockets 1 lnthe reel in which the articles to be vended 

